Southwark
BUSINESS TODAY
Issue 21: December 2018
Innovation in Peckham
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Welcome
Welcome to
Contents
Southwark BUSINESS TODAY The Southwark Chamber of Commerce magazine for all Businesses in Southwark I vote for Stability.
By the time this goes to press the whole Brexit debate will have moved on and if the past is anything to go by the direction of travel may be entirely different from what it looks like to me here and now. I cannot remember a time when the future for business has been so uncertain and this lack of stability is the enemy of investment and saps the confidence of businessmen, investors and customers alike.
Everywhere I look, particularly at supply chains and regulations, organisations are waiting for clarity, so they can get on with developing the required changes to remain viable. If this was a binary situation then resources could be allocated to the potential solutions but is now seems to me that our road is more Spaghetti Junction that T junction. You cannot develop an answer until you know the question; worse, in the areas of law I know well I now believe we simply no longer have the legislative time to deal with the volume of work required.
Let us be clear, government of any colour are enablers not wealth creators. At its simplest, providing education, social welfare, street lighting and mending roads maintains the environment in which businesses can generate wealth and accordingly good government is fundamental to prosperity.
Disclaimer
Southwark Business Today is mailed without charge to all Chamber members and distributed to businesses in the Borough. All correspondence should be addressed to the Editor at Southwark
However, only the private sector generates money to fund government; it is therefore my view that government should do all it can to avoid damaging business and in these times that means thinking very carefully before making changes without thinking through the consequences and costs for commerce. Right here and now that means stability and clarity - I would rather see 200 pages taken out of the tax manual to remove a damaging effect that 200 added in an attempt to somehow make things better.
A number of years ago I asked a politician how much they thought the changes we were debating would cost business to implement, I didn’t get a reply, I got a blank stare. That is simply no longer good enough.
Chamber of Commerce. Views expressed in publication are not necessarily those of Southwark Chamber of Commerce. Reprinting in whole or part is forbidden except by permission of the Editor. © 2018. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of material published in this
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December 2018 © Benham Publishing
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Up Front
Concerns for rail line proposal Businesses are being urged to have their say on a campaign for the extension of the Bakerloo line. Southwark Council has welcomed a TfL report about the extension but expressed disappointment that only two stations were proposed for Old Kent Road.
Cllr Johnson Situ, cabinet member for growth, development and planning, said: “Southwark Council has been working with the Mayor and TfL to build the case for the extension, which will transform the lives of thousands of people who live and work around Old Kent Road and wider London. “We welcome TfL’s decision to drop the proposals for a ventilation shaft at Bricklayers Arms and their commitment to public realm work. However, we are disappointed with TfL’s proposal not to include a third station at Bricklayers Arms, despite strong local support from residents, businesses and the council.
“A station at Bricklayers Arms would help maximise the economic benefits of the Bakerloo line extension, rebuilding the area around the community, focusing on pedestrians rather than vehicles and help tackle air pollution.”
Businesses urged to back Living Wage campaign Southwark Council is calling on local businesses large and small to follow its example and become Living Wage employers.
The council made its call in November in Living Wage Week, a national campaign run by the Living Wage Foundation to promote the idea that a hard day’s work deserves a hard day’s pay. To kick start the week, the Foundation announced that the new Living Wage rates have risen to £10.55 per hour in London (£9 per hour in the rest of the country). Southwark is an accredited Living Wage employer, meaning that it pays a living wage to all staff, including apprentices and contracted staff through its supply chain. More than 100 businesses in Southwark are Living Wage employers already and the council is looking to double that number.
salary and having to try to hold down two or more jobs to make ends meet. “The dividend benefits the employer with more motivated and loyal staff and, of course, the employees and contractors, and their families. It makes good business sense and is an integral part to the wellbeing and prosperity of the borough." Lena Lindsay, a Business Administrator Apprentice for Team London Bridge, said: “Having an employer that believes and invests in me has given me back some self-confidence and being paid the London Living Wage gives me my independence to do what I want to do. “Apprenticeships should not be labelled as low paid jobs where you get a qualification at the end. Paying the London Living Wage for apprenticeships provides real jobs and truly valuable experiences.”
Housing fund is launched Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has launched a £10m fund to strengthen London councils’ housing and planning teams in order to boost their role in building new homes.
Over the past eight years, central Government cuts have seen council budgets for planning and development fall by 50% in London. The Homebuilding Capacity Fund will allow councils to bid for up to £750,000 each to boost their housing and planning teams.
“As TfL have outlined in this report, the delivery of the Bakerloo line extension is dependent on securing the necessary funding for its construction, so it is vital that we continue to build the campaign for the extension and make the case to Treasury to ensure it is delivered.” Anyone wishing to offer support can do so at backthebakerloo.org.uk
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Cllr Kieron Williams, cabinet member for jobs, skills and innovation, said: “We’re calling on employers to pay a real Living Wage both because it’s the right thing to do and because it is good for business. “It is not right that so many in our city end each week’s work without enough to live on. As employers we all need to do our bit to make sure that is not the case for the people working for us, be they employees or contractors. “Offering a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work has real business benefits, too, including more committed and motivated staff and a higher quality of work.” Lorna Gavin, Chair of the Southwark Business Forum, said: “Paying the Living Wage to your employees and contractors can make the difference between them being able to live on their
Southwark BUSINESS TODAY
This could include hiring new staff to lead council homebuilding projects and develop new masterplans. The Homebuilding Capacity Fund will work alongside other support that City Hall is providing to help councils build again. Deputy Mayor for Housing James Murray recently launched a new Council-Led Housing Forum, run by
Future of London, to provide technical advice to practitioners involved in council-led delivery of homes.
This support helped councils deliver their bids to the Mayor’s Building Council Homes for Londoners programme, the first-ever City Hall programme dedicated specifically to supporting council homebuilding.
The programme sets out to help get 10,000 new council homes under way over the next four years.
Sadiq Khan said: “London’s housing crisis has been decades in the making and there is no easy solution but we will only make progress if councils can take a lead in getting new homes built.
"In the 1970s, London councils were supported by central government and built more than 20,000 homes a year. However, these councils built only 2,500 homes over the last seven years, including 700 that were completed last year.”
Up Front
Brexit Business hub is launched Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has launched a new online portal to help the Capital’s companies cope with Brexit.
The Brexit Business Resource Hub at www.growthhub.london/ brexithub has been set up in response to a consultation that the Mayor held with businesses to determine what support they need to ready themselves for Brexit. The consultation revealed that businesses feel they have not had sufficient guidance from Government ministers on how to prepare. The Hub contains Brexit-related news, links to industry-specific reports and checklists, and an events calendar,
with information on all Brexit related events taking place across London. It is part of the Mayor’s London Growth Hub that was launched two years ago as a one-stop shop for all business support in London, in partnership between the Mayor and the London Economic Action Partnership (LEAP). Simon Pitkeathley, LEAP Board Champion for Small Business, said: “Whatever the outcome of Brexit is, business owners need to know what the implications will be to their business. In a time of uncertainty for businesses, our City needs this
forward-thinking and tactical approach to ensure that London’s economy remains strong and vibrant.”
Bodytonic Clinic, London wins Practice of the Year national award Bodytonic Clinic, based in Canada Water has won the Institute of Osteopathy’s 2018 Practice of the Year award.
These annual awards at The Grange Hotel in St Pauls celebrate high quality and innovative care delivered by osteopaths for the people of their communities. The Practice of the Year award celebrates osteopathic practices who provide the highest standards of patientcentred care and service to their patients. The award is open to all UK clinics and is the first time a central London clinic has won this award. The clinic was also awarded a
TimeOut Love London award and were finalists at the Southwark business awards 2018. James Gill, osteopath & clinical director at Bodytonic Clinic, stated: “We are delighted to have won the Practice of the Year Award. It has always been our ambition to deliver the best treatment and experience possible for our clients. And it is incredibly enriching to know that the hard work, and the dedication, of not just the osteopaths but everybody at Bodytonic Clinic is being recognised.”
It has been a steep learning curve for James as he came straight from A-Levels to study Osteopathy at the University College of Osteopathy (formerly the British School of Osteopathy). All my business knowledge is either self-taught, through mentors or through management courses in order to gain and develop the ability to lead and build a strong company and team culture. The clinic has come a long way over the last 8 years, initially with James starting
off treating at home in Canada Water. James started the clinic using his experience as a new graduate to create a safe, welcoming and learning environment for osteopaths to grown and gain further develop. Now based in the historic Dock Offices in Canada Water James’s team has 20 therapists and staff providing osteopathy, sports injury rehab, holistic massage, health and beauty treatments and the recent addition of Pilates and yoga classes.
New memorial takes pride of place A new Conflict Memorial was dedicated by the Dean of Southwark Cathedral at Walworth Square a new Public space in the Lendlease redevelopment of the old Heygate Estate in Walworth adjacent to the original Southwark Town Hall. The Leader of Southwark Council, Cllr Peter John speaking following the dedication of the Memorial said that although there were many War Memorials in Southwark, there was no memorial for the whole of Southwark. He said that this Memorial Sculpture was designed as a contemporary piece
of Public Art that was both classical yet modern and depicted a boy on a felled tree trunk representing the victims of conflicts that are still happening in the world today. The Inscription on the memorial says. 'AGAINST THE ARMOUR OF THE STORM I'LL HOLD MY HUMAN BARRIER'
Super-fast Broadband roll-out continues
Visitors to one of Southwark’s libraries can sign on to free full-fibre broadband as part of the council’s partnership with internet provider Community Fibre.
John Harvard Library on Borough High Street is the first library in Southwark to receive free, ultrafast fibre-optic broadband and the building now has a 1 Gigabit per second connection, with user download speeds of up to 500 Megabits per second across the Wi-Fi network. This means local residents can download information, books and films in seconds, rather than minutes. Community Fibre, who is at the forefront of addressing growing ‘Broadband Poverty’ in the UK, has been working closely with Southwark Council to get the library ‘gigabit enabled’. Gigabit enabled connections are the fastest available in the UK.
Cllr Stephanie Cryan, cabinet member for housing and modernisation, said: “With the internet becoming ever more central to people’s lives’, from watching TV to paying your bills, it is more important than ever that our residents have access to high-quality, fast and reliable broadband so they can take full advantage of the digital revolution.”
Jeremy Chelot, the Chief Executive of Community Fibre, said: “Community Fibre’s mission is to remove Broadband Poverty by ensuring people have a local facility, such as the library, where they can access full-fibre broadband for free. We’re confident that once they realise the opportunities that full-fibre broadband offers they will also want a connection in their own home.”
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Legal Advice
What Does the EU Withdrawal Agreement Mean for the Private Rented Sector? The long-awaited withdrawal agreement between the UK and the EU has been published. Naturally, we do not know at this stage whether it will pass through Parliament and be agreed by the UK and equally it is uncertain whether it will be agreed by the other 27 EU countries. However, assuming for a moment that it passes through these challenges unchanged then what does it mean for private landlords and tenants.
The PRS is only lightly affected by EU legislation. In practice, none of this will change for the foreseeable future anyway. The UK has already taken steps to ensure that all EU regulations and directives are within UK law by passing regulations and these will be continued both during the transition phase and beyond. So, changes to the regulatory environment will have to happen on a piece by piece basis and are unlikely to arrive soon. Ultimately, there are far more pressing areas of EU law to deal with than those relating to private landlords! However, there is one important area, for England at least, where the withdrawal agreement and our future relationship is relevant.
This is the Right to Rent as implemented by the Immigration Act 2014 (and amended by the Immigration Act 2016). There was considerable uncertainty as to whether EU nationals would still be able to enter and leave the UK freely and whether or not they would continue to have the Right to Rent. Assuming that the withdrawal agreement is ratified by all sides that position is now a great deal clearer. While the withdrawal agreement does not mention the Right to Rent explicitly it does deal with the Right to Reside and in practice the two are very tightly connected. The withdrawal agreement specifies that EU nationals will be entitled to reside in the UK for up to 5 years provided they are working and also specifies that residence for 5 years will be a gateway to permanent residence. This appears to be for the whole transition period with the prospect of a permanent replacement for this arrangement later on. This would seem to satisfy the concerns that EU nationals might unexpectedly lose their right to reside and consequently a right to rent.
Notably, the deal also states that the UK government (and the EU) are free to introduce ID cards or permits for those residing and also specifies that they can use digital means to do this. This is clearly inserted by the UK and is based on the stated objective of the Home Office to use digital means to deal with EU nationals resident in the UK. The Home Office has also indicated that it wishes to use digital mechanisms in future to deal with the Right to Work and the Right to Rent. Having personally seen a demo of the Right to Work system I must admit to being impressed and can see that it would work better for many landlords if it was rolled out to the Right to Rent as well. It is pretty clear
that if the current agreement is ratified that the Home Office will press on with a digital mechanism for dealing with EU Nationals and the Right to Rent more generally.
Of course, this is not the end of the discussion. The Right to Rent is subject to review in the High Court in December in a case brought by the JCWI. This is now being intervened in by the RLA (represented by Anthony Gold), Liberty and the EHRC so it is likely to be a substantial review. If the government was to lose this case then the Right to Rent would likely have to be substantially revised, if not disposed of altogether, and this might cause a substantial change in the approach.
If you wish to contact David Smith, Partner at Anthony Gold for more information please email david_smith@anthonygold.co.uk
“While the withdrawal agreement does not mention the Right to Rent explicitly it does deal with the Right to Reside and in practice the two are very tightly connected.�
Anthony Gold Solicitors specialise in many different areas of law
Our solicitors are experts in their fields. We are negotiators and litigators,
committed to doing whatever is best for our clients.
T: 020 7940 4060
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Economy
'Brexit attracted me to Britain' – meet the CEO helping SMEs turn Brexit forecasts around Siddharth Shankar is the CEO of Tails Trading, an innovative company which partners with British SMEs to market their goods to Asian markets. Siddharth sees Brexit as an opportunity for SMEs to look beyond the EU for their export business and to take advantage of the growing Asian markets, where there’s an appetite for quality British goods.
What are the opportunities in Brexit that attracted you to set up a business working with British companies?
The economic uncertainty of Brexit means that many UK businesses need to look for new growth areas. At the point of the referendum result, 48% of UK exports were to fellow EU countries. Exiting the single market and the customs union jeopardises this and makes the process of exporting to EU countries more costly and complex. This means that many companies who already export their goods, but mainly within the EU, need to look globally for new markets. Why should British SMEs be looking to the Asian markets?
Although the cultures across the Asian markets are very diverse, there is one thing they have in common: a love of quality British goods. I noticed this when I was working as an
investor in India, and it’s backed up by research -- in India, China and UAE, more than half of consumers are prepared to pay more for goods made in the UK because they perceive the quality to be higher. There are 4.6 billion people in the pan-Asian markets – broadly classified as the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, South-East Asia, Greater China and East Asia. Economies are booming, the population is growing and there’s a rising middle class with a disposable income. This is a great market to take British goods to. So how can Tails Trading help SMEs with selling in the Asian markets?
We underwrite the technical and financial risks for SMEs who want to export to Asian markets. We buy the products from UK brands and invest in
their marketing and PR through our local offices in Asia. We believe we can drive our brands’ production and sales by seven times on average. Where did the idea for Tails Trading come from?
When the referendum result was announced, I was studying for my MBA at Strathclyde Business School. My business partner, who’s Chinese, and I met up with lots of SME owners and saw that they were all nervous about the trading conditions post-Brexit. At the same time, they didn’t feel confident about taking a risk to export their goods to Asian markets, or have the resources to explore it properly. We knew that there is an appetite for British goods in Asia, so the idea for our company came from that -- it just seemed like a brilliant growth opportunity.
What is your prediction for business growth in a post-Brexit Britain?
The deal that’s negotiated will obviously have a huge impact, but in the short term there will certainly be a lot of confusion. There will be new regulations to get to grips with, and this will have a financial impact on businesses. In the long term, there will still be lots of opportunity for British businesses to export to the EU -- demand will still be there, and I think that large British businesses should be able to continue to supply goods, even with increased costs. It’s the SMEs who will struggle, however, so now is a fantastic opportunity for these types of businesses to look globally and take their brands global. Tails Trading is here to help them do just this.
“There are 4.6 billion people in the pan-Asian markets – broadly classified as the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, South-East Asia, Greater China and East Asia. Economies are booming, the population is growing and there’s a rising middle class with a disposable income.”
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Hospitality
Elephants, physics labs, and Six Types of Nan Bread The LaLiT London in Tooley Street by Susan Isaacs Arts and Culture correspondent
A lavish cobalt roof, blue as the night sky vaults upwards in the vast dining space, known as the Baluchi restaurant.
Massive chandeliers, aglow with multiple lights dangle from the ceiling, each half a ton in weight, and a year in the making. It took a large team of workmen days perched on ladders, to dismantle them and clean them.
On the walls hang beautiful tapestries, woven with images of the tree of life, and a gallery runs high up around the edge of the dining area. There you can sip afternoon tea, and stare down at the chefs, producing a delicious selection of six different nan breads, as live theatre before your very eyes.
Are you in a Hindu palace in India, in an colourful city like Mumbai? The owner of the Lalit already owns twelve five star restaurants in such exotic locations as Jaipur, Goa, and New Delhi. No.
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The truth is more surprising. The glorious restaurant used to be the assembly room for hundreds of boys within a former boys grammar school, St Olave’s, located on Tooley Street, just near Tower Bridge. It boasted such exciting locations as the Physics Lab and the Headmaster’s Room. From the outside you see a large redbrick and white windowed English style building. So it is a shock when you are greeted at the entrance by a man with a massive red turban, and ushered into a magnificent reception area, where the starred yellow lights, and the floor, with intricate black and white tiles, are reminiscent of the Orient.
The building was bought in 2006 and then opened as a hotel in 2017. The owner has imaginatively preserved some of the original features of the old school, like the plaster of Paris ceiling in the headmaster’s room. Cute white cherubs stare down at you there inquisitively, as you sip your coffee, and make a startling contrast with the images of Hindu deities that adorn the walls elsewhere.
One of the most constant images is that of a elephant, which appears in many guises all around the hotel. In the reception area you see an elephant with a mouse at his feet. Vlad, the concierge, who had many a tale to tell, explained that the Hindu god of wisdom and science Ganesha, is often represented by an elephant. In legend he would often ride upon a mouse, who
Southwark BUSINESS TODAY
would act as his carriage. In every room in the hotel there is a cuddly toy in the form of an elephant, nicknamed Elphie.
Ganesha appears in many places in the hotel and there is a startling statue of him on the terrace outside the hotel, where the elephant head is separated from the body and is suspended in mid-air supported only by his hands.
What the hotel does really impressively is to combine this fascinating display of Indian culture, with a real understanding of what the modern traveller needs. The comfortable loo seats in the en suite bathroom, are beautifully heated, and along with the cuddly elephant on the bed, comes a selection of charging accoutrements for your phone, a vast tv screen, an iron, and an ironing board, wine, fruit, delicious chocolates, a large selection of herbal teas in colourful boxes, and best of all for me, a mini sewing kit. Two buttons came off my coat last week, and that neat little sewing kit from the Lalit solved the problem immediately. What most sticks in my mind is a wonderful story that that Vlad the concierge told me about the former headmaster. The wicked headmaster that Dickens wrote
about, Mr Wackford Squeers, had competition in the headmaster of St Olave’s. Legend has it that he found scribbles on the staircase within the school, with a black marker. There were six hundred boys in the school. The headmaster asked each of the six hundred boys in the school whether he had been the culprit. No-one would confess. So he called out each boy in turn, and caned them, one by one, all six hundred of them. Later it turned out that the culprit did not even go to the school, but was someone who wandered in from the street. But apparently the headmaster never apologised.
As I lounged in luxury on the vast bed at the Lalit, sipping wine, cuddling Elphie, and munching an apple, I wondered idly what that old headmaster would have made of the Lalit in all its glory now. Does his ghost still roam the building? I hope I never meet him. I freely admit that physics labs and school assembly halls have their place in society. But give me a luxury bathroom and six types of nan bread. I would rather stay in the Lalit hotel, any day.
News
Sir Simon Hughes appointed as Chancellor Chamber chair and deputy chair, respectively Peter Mantell and Richard Kalmar, were invited to the signing in of Chamber Patron Sir Simon Hughes as Chancellor of London South Bank University (LSBU). A packed auditorium at the Purcell Room heard about Simon’s incredible CV and was treated to one of his most eloquent speeches, saying how he only accepted the role as Chancellor on the proviso that he would play an active role.
He aims to build on the many accreditations that the university and, particularly, the business school has achieved over the past few years. As well as the staff, Sir Simon praised President of the Students’ Union Nelly Kibirige, who also made a very positive speech.
The Chamber is pleased to have members sitting as advisors on the business school board, and very much looks forward to working more closely with LSBU, who are currently looking at how to upgrade the Chamber’s website.
Canada Water update is given The Chamber was grateful to chamber members British Land for a fascinating talk by director Roger Madelin and colleagues on their proposals for redeveloping the 1980 shopping and leisure centre at Canada Water into a whole new town, the biggest development in Central London. This is the second time they have hosted a presentation to the chamber and Roger, as always, gave a very enlightening update on their plans and timescale.
This includes £2 million sq ft of commercial space, which is likely to be transformational for the eastern part of the Southwark Borough and provide huge opportunities for local businesses.
Q&As included questions on transport and how British Land would engage local businesses. They confirmed that these issues were very important to British Land and outlined some measures to deal with them.
The talk was followed by a walkaround the Printworks, one of the coolest new leisure venues in Europe, when the flexibility of the use was explained, and illustrated by
one of the halls being used the day before for a business conference and the weekend before by an electro house DJ with more than 5,000 people attending.
Chamber visit to the House of Lords in the Palace of Westminster By Richard Kalmar
Southwark Chamber held a joint dinner event with South London Chamber and thanked their president, Helen McIntosh, for their kind co-operation.
The event was hosted by Southwark chamber’s Vice President Lord Kennedy, assisted by his wife, who is also in the House of Lords, Alicia Kennedy Baroness of Cradley.
Incidentally, do you know who are only other husband and wife couple in The Lords? Answer on a postcard, please (clue they are high profile well known and have a son who is an MP).
I have done this tour around ten times, but can say that although the time was limited, it was the most fascinating tour of what is a fascinating building.
Following this we retired to the Attlee Room, where we were treated to an excellent three course meal. Lord Kennedy gave a further speech; it was noticeable that he mingled with all guests to get maximum feedback from local businesses on topics currently important to them.
We were fortunate in that it was a very mild evening and the dinner was followed by drinks on the palace terrace overlooking The Thames, where we were joined by Chamber President, Neil Coyle, who also actively engaged in discussions with many of the businesses.
We thank the politicians for giving up their time, buying rounds and generally their support for the chamber. We hope to hold future similar events in view of the very positive feedback that was received.
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Southwark Business Awards
Businesses invited to exclusive Southwark Awards launch at The Shard The 2019 Southwark Business Excellence Awards will launch at a prestigious reception in the Shangri-La Hotel at The Shard on Thursday, 24th January. Building on the huge success of the inaugural awards year, the second annual programme promises to be even bigger and better, with a number of new entry categories to appeal to a wide range of businesses across the borough.
Business people are now invited to register their interest in attending the Invitation Only launch to hear full details of the 2019 awards categories – including the premier prize, the Southwark Business of the Year.
There will be inspirational speeches from the 2018 winners, as well as political and business leaders, along with more information on the glittering, black-tie Gala Dinner & Charity Ball awards ceremony for 450 people next June.
Welcoming news of the launch, Awards Partners, Southwark Chamber of Commerce and Southwark Council said the awards recognised the vibrancy and ambition of the large local business community.
Peter Mantell, Chairman of Southwark Chamber of Commerce, said: “Last year the launch of the Southwark Business Awards set a benchmark which was truly inspirational; this year our aim is to build on that success. It is clear to me that every business which participated last year, regardless of how far they progressed, benefitted from the experience and I encourage everyone to consider entering in 2019.” Councillor Kieron Williams, Cabinet Member for Jobs, Skills & Innovation at Southwark Council, said:
“Across the borough, businesses of all sizes play a vital role in our communities, providing essential services, nurturing new ideas and technologies, and attracting people to Southwark, with their great and diverse appeal. I look forward to recognising the contribution of our fantastic businesses, at the Southwark Business Awards 2019.” Designed to celebrate the successes and achievements of Southwark’s vast and thriving business community, the prestigious awards are free to enter and are open to companies of all sizes and across all enterprise sectors in the borough. Independent restaurant Spinach was crowned Southwark’s Business of the Year at the first awards ceremony attended by
450 guests at the Hilton Bankside Hotel on June 21 this year. Hosted by financial journalist Sally Bundock, the sold-out event was the climax of the inaugural programme.
The Southwark Business Excellence Awards aim to recognise and reward the wide range of firms based in the borough, which stretches from Southbank to London Bridge and Surrey Docks in the east, and to Bermondsey, Peckham, Camberwell and Dulwich in the south. The area is home to 18,000 businesses, including major international companies and community businesses. It also boasts world class entertainment and arts venues as well as some of the best eating establishments in the city.
The Southwark Business Excellence Awards are sponsored by London Borough of Southwark, Southwark Chamber of Commerce, British Land, Landsec and UAL: London College of Communication,and supported by Shangri-La At The Shard.
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Southwark BUSINESS TODAY
Education
Why should I offer a young person work experience? The idea of working for free – for example, internships – has attracted criticism in recent years. However, it can give young people invaluable experience, sharpen up communication skills and grow confidence….. There are plenty of benefits for your organisation too.
Many employers feel that schools and colleges aren’t properly preparing younger people for the workplace, and although many study in ‘simulated workplaces’, there’s no substitute for the real thing.
Bosses may be put off by the idea of training or supporting them in customer service skills, or how to answer the phone correctly, but in reality young people learn quickly and surprise you with their flair and promise. They can inject your workplace with positive energy, and a new perspective that you might not have considered before. Young people’s confidence with
technology can also be a real boost, and open your eyes to new possibilities in business automation.
From the student perspective, high quality placements can bring a range of benefits and positive impacts. There is strong evidence to suggest that placements and work experience are extremely valuable to students, both in terms of their academic performance and their employability skills. They’ll also work out whether this is a good career choice for them, or if the industry suits their personality and skills.
The Government are currently trialling T levels, a technical, vocational equivalent to A levels. These new qualifications, when fully rolled out, will demand high-quality long-term work placements directly related to the area of study. It is anticipated that there will be a shortfall in the number of available placements for students, which would threaten the success of a qualification which has taken years of planning and testing. If you’re concerned that your team would need to meet the student first, or interview them, to make sure they’re a good fit, then that can be arranged.
Many work experience students are offered employment at the end of their courses because they’ve made such a good impression, saving the employers time and money on searching for and selecting new staff. So, dust off that research project that has been languishing at the bottom of your in-tray for weeks, and let a keen student loose on it, it could be the best move you’ve made in months. Want to find out more about offering a placement for a student? Call Juliet Atkins on 020 3757 3984 or email Juliet.Atkins@lscollege.ac.uk
GET AHEAD. GET AN APPRENTICE To be successful, you need a talented, loyal workforce. Apprentices offer enthusiasm, knowledge and a desire to do well - helping you tackle the challenges of the future. Let us match you with the perfect trainee, taking away the headache of selection. If you’re a levy-payer, we can help you maximise the benefits too. Contact us today:
LSCOLLEGE.AC.UK/APPRENTICESHIPS Apprenticeships@LSCollege.ac.uk 020 3757 3050
Southwark BUSINESS TODAY
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Warwick Business School at The Shard, London
For the Change Makers
W
wbs.ac.uk/go/WBSLondon
Warwick Business School
Iron Fists in Silk Gloves The World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates the income gap between men and world across the world will take 217 years to close. The gap is not due to getting paid less for doing the same job, the WEF estimates this is just two per cent, but it finds that women are more likely to do unpaid work, be unemployed, work in industries with lower pay and less likely to be in high-paid jobs. But with more and more women doing an MBA - Warwick Business School recently celebrated its Executive MBA cohort achieving a 50:50 gender split - a quicker route to closing the gap might be available at The Shard in London. Tina Ajuonuma, who is studying the Executive MBA at Warwick Business School’s London base at The Shard, believes the MBA can help women move into those higher paid and more senior positions. “A key challenge for women in leadership positions is access,” says Tina, a Senior Director at ONE, a campaigning group co-founded by Bono to fight global extreme poverty. “Whether it's to gain knowledge and experience or to showcase the skills that make you a great leader. “The MBA provides students with access to very impressive networks and to business executives who are leaders in their field and this is priceless.
“Research shows that diversity at senior level results in greater corporate success, however that is defined. We need those at the highest levels to fully embrace the idea that truly effective leadership does not come in a ‘one-size-fits-all’ package.” Revolution Bars director Fiona Regan agrees an MBA can help women break down barriers in the boardroom.
With a background in HR and as Director of People Development at the premium high street bar chain Fiona feels an MBA will help in the next step of her career and says embarking on the three-year part-time executive version in London has already brought benefits. She has also been helped by a 50 per cent scholarship from the 30% Club – a campaigning group started in 2010 aiming to have a minimum of 30 per cent of women on FTSE 100 boards. Two female MBA applicants are offered the 30% Club scholarship each year at Warwick Business School and Fiona suggests having the qualification will help women change misconceptions.
“I am already seeing the benefit of starting my MBA,” says Fiona, who, before moving to Revolution Bars in 2015, was
Director of HR at Rank Group’s Grosvenor Casinos where her department was named Team of the Year at the Women in Gaming Awards for transforming the company’s internal culture. “The experience is helping to improve my confidence, I am learning practical new skills and I have found that the people on the programme are enormously supportive of each other.
“This helps regardless of gender, but I believe that as more women - and in my case I would add mothers - are seen to have the ambition to do an MBA, this will help challenge some preconceptions that balancing work, family and study are out of reach for women. “I think in some instances it is still more likely that a mother will get asked how she can balance a commitment like this than a father would.”
Fellow Executive MBA Sarah Darling, who has also benefitted from the 30% Club scholarship, believes women can offer a different voice in the boardroom that can benefit the business.
Sarah, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), says: “The insurance sector still has a high level of testosterone, particularly around the boardroom table.
The best advice I was given was to not forget I’m a woman, but forget I’m surrounded by men. “I think strong women bring real value to a boardroom and in senior roles we often have a slightly different perspective which is not softer, but from a different angle. “I have been referred to as the iron fist in a silk glove! My methods are different but often have a strong outcome.”
The Managing Director of Coversure Insurance Services adds: “The way we view maternity leave is rather outdated and actually what we need is encouragement to keep working, with better flexibility for those on a career path.
“Taking long periods out of industry can make the steps up much longer, some sort of blended working would be great. “We also need women to inspire young women in schools and universities. We need to bring certain sectors alive for women, rather than the movie perceptions of certain sectors. Sadly we stereotype.” For more information on Warwick Business School's suite of MBA programmes go to wbs.ac.uk/go/WBSLondon
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Ask the Expert
Making busting broadband barriers your 2019 New Year’s resolution In this digital age, it’s no exaggeration to say that the quality of a business’s broadband connection can impact the success of the company.
Operations and productivity are hugely impacted by unreliable and slow connectivity - dropped calls, uploads timing out and poor-quality video calls are just a few of the biggest bug bears. For the last decade businesses have been completely hamstrung when trying to address their connectivity woes. This is because the market was
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crowded by providers that were all basically selling the same thing, from either Openreach’s FTTC network and Virgin’s DOCSIS network. Both options could only offer a ‘part fibre’ broadband connection, which means that fibre stops at the green box (cabinet) at the end of the street, and the actual connection into the business is delivered over copper, so users rarely get the advertised speeds
Southwark BUSINESS TODAY
and the performance is subject to distance attenuation and peak time slowdowns. However, the market is changing, and we are proud to be leading the ‘full fibre’ revolution, which enables symmetrical gigabit broadband speeds of 1,000Mbps. Our network already passes 500,000 homes and businesses across the UK and we are on track to pass two million homes by 2021. If you live or work in Southwark, you will soon be able to benefit from being able to access our hugely superior broadband infrastructure. Earlier this year we entered into a partnership with Southwark Council to enable 100,000 homes and businesses in the borough to have access to our full fibre broadband. There is an industrywide consensus that full fibre is the future and the best foundation for business success. In August, the Institute of Directors (IoD) called on the Government to commit to a firm date to switch off the UK’s old network of copper lines, in order to force the shift to faster full fibre broadband. The business group said that switching to fibre would bring wider benefits than simply faster speeds for consumers.
According to a poll the IoD conducted of 700 members, the biggest effect of improved broadband would be enabling employees to work more flexibly. It would also allow companies themselves to become more flexible, adopting and offering more cloud-based services. Whether the government a grees to this switch-off remains to be seen, but it is certainly in agreement that the UK needs to move to full fibre to be digitally competitive. In its Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review it outlined that its target was for 15 million premises to have access to full fibre broadband by 2025, and for the whole of the UK to have access by 2033. We are very proud to be leading the shift to Gigabit Britain. We are passionate about bridging the digital divide and expanding local economies, by giving them an infrastructure that helps businesses in the area unlock innovation. We offer a range of competitive priced and flexible business broadband packages, including Hyperoptic Business Fibre Broadband, starting from just £40 a month. We hope to be part of your New Year’s resolution to move to a service that helps rather than hinders your Internet experience.
For more information and to register your interest, please visit our website: https://www.hyperoptic.com/business/
Fibre broadband that means business “Hyperoptic is the fastest internet provider we have ever had. I found them extremely easy to deal with and it made a real difference to our business.” Richard Nichols Director, Vitamin London Ltd.
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Whatever your business does online, do it better with Hyperoptic full fibre broadband. Prices starting from just £40 a month. Choose from fast, superfast or hyperfast:
Register your interest today at www.hyperoptic.com/business 1Gbps speed is not achievable by a single device over wi-fi. If you are looking for a 1Gbps connection to a single device, a wired connection is required. Same download and upload speed applies to 150Mb and 1Gb services. 30Mb download and 1Mb upload speed applies to 30Mb service. Pricing accurate as of /2018. All prices are exclusive of VAT. Please see our website for full Terms & Conditions.
Focus on Peckham
Preparations under way for station improvements Southwark Council, working with the Greater London Authority and Network Rail, is improving the area in front of Peckham Rye Station. The project will transform the narrow, dimly-lit passageways that lead to the station into a vibrant public square and preparation is well under way.
The idea was first suggested more than ten years ago by local residents and, under the plans, the Grade II listed station building will be enhanced and celebrated by its new surroundings.
The exposed viaducts along the north and south side of the square will create new places for local and independent business to trade within the arches, bringing the square to life and providing a sense of safety.
Refurbishment and extension of the Blenheim Grove corner building will create space for a community groups to meet alongside a garden roof and affordable work space for entrepreneurs and start-up businesses.
The preparatory works include those needed for refurbishment of the building on the corner of Rye Lane and Blenheim Grove to provide an additional two storey extension above existing roof level and refurbishment of one archway retail unit beneath the south viaduct. The works will commence in spring 2019 and will be completed in summer 2020.
Further works will include the demolition of the south and north arcade buildings currently situated in front of Peckham Rye Station to make way for a new landscaped Square, along with works to form retail units in two further arches beneath the southern railway viaduct and one partial railway arch beneath the north viaduct. The works will be completed in autumn 2021.
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People empowering people Hip and Happening in Peckham By Susan Isaacs, Arts and Culture Correspondent
The list is intriguing. Bike-mending workshops, Open mics events by a 15 year old girl, who has now gone on to study art and event management at de montfort University, a music studio, A Big Lunch in Southwark, and exhibitions by an artist called Inxsanixty are just some of the groundbreaking projects backed by social enterprise Pempeople.
Pempeople (people empowering people) works with Southwark Council and local residents, charities, and institutions to showcase the talent that exists in the community. The man behind these projects, and hundreds more, is dynamic entrepreneur Nicholas Okwulu. He started life as a GP medical rep, climbing to Clinical Sales Manager negotiating region wide contracts.
Nicholas has been the initiator of the Livesey Exchange. A project that has received financial backing from Southwark Council the GLA and AirBNB, of up to ÂŁ500,000.
The aim of the projects that Nicholas runs are ways to ensure that local Southwark residents are not totally displaced. From the regeneration projects that
Southwark BUSINESS TODAY
are happening in the area and showcasing what has really made Southwark cool.
He lived for twenty five years in the Old Kent Road, close to social housing the grassroots of the Southwark Community. He is the ultimate fixer. If you want to get a project off the ground, Nicholas will know just the people for you to talk to and put you in touch.
I met up with him in the Peckham Levels, a brilliantly imaginative use of a multi-story car park. The levels have been transformed to host a multitude of craftsman, artists and musicians, and there is a cafe, ceramic studios and rehearsal space, not to mention a hairdresser.
When I arrived, Nicholas’s studio was hosting an exhibition about the first professional black footballer Arthur Wharton.
Wharton lived in the 1800s and Nicholas showed me a pair of blue goalkeeper gloves, a yellow and white football, and a white rugby ball, perched neatly on top of a glass cabinet, examples of equipment for the many sports he played
One of the most exciting projects Nicholas has been involved with is the Livesey Exchange. It has more than
sixty vacant garages on the Ledbury Estate on the Old Kent Road.
We know from the Monopoly board that the Old Kent Road is one of the most deprived areas of London. This project set about using those garages to enable people to start up small business with little or no capital behind them. Some of the successes have been a leather business and a sewing project.
The sewing scheme is skilfully adapted to the hours of mothers who have to drop off and pick up kids. There are also bike mending workshops which enable local people to become accredited as bike mechanics.
Nicholas was quick to explain that these facilities and pop-up shops are aimed at those who can create footfall. Entrepreneurs may have a holiday from rent initially, but they must generate enough business to pay rent eventually.
It is due to the drive and ingenuity of local people like Nicholas, that Peckham has become the vibrant, cool, hip place to be. If you have not yet been to Peckham, put it on your to do list. It is one of the most hip and happening places to be.
Focus on Peckham
The Architect, the Clocktower, and the Waiting Room Meet Benedict O’Looney, Peckham’s innovative Architect By Susan Isaacs, Arts and Culture Correspondent A massive waiting room, with an energetically elaborate roof glows green in the afternoon light. The echoing deserted hall, overlooks a railway platform in Peckham Rye station.
In Victorian days it was a very grand station where the London Dover and London Chatham railways came together. For years the only way you could see the waiting room was from the platform. The magnificent staircase that led to it was bricked up, and the beautiful iron cresting on the bannisters fell into disrepair.
This wonderful hall had been in turns a waiting room, billiard hall, a betting shop, and a market place. Sadly it fell into disrepair, and the slightest footfall echoes in the deserted space.
But all is not lost. Enter stage left an energetic figure wheeling a bike, clad in a blue beret and a blue and white striped t-shirt. All that is missing is a string of onions. But this saviour of Peckham ‘s heritage is not a Frenchman.
Benedict O’Looney, art historian and architect, has an Irish background, and his voice has the soft American vowels of a man who graduated from Yale. It is no surprise that he comes from a family of art historians.
His enthusiasm is infectious as he talks about the plans to restore the waiting room, the magificent staircase, and the Victorian toilets to their former glory, working in conjunction with the Peckham Society. His firm of architects have worked on many projects in Peckham, including the Peckham Mosque, and he has raised money from the Railway Heritage Fund and Southwark council to restore all sorts of beautiful buildings in Peckham.
There is the clock tower of the former Jones & Higgins Department Store in Rye Lane, and the art deco roof and faience facade of Kahns Bargains, just across the way from the station. He gives me an overview of the history of the area.
Peckham was orginally a genteel Georgian suburb, with vast Georgian manor houses built by landowners such as Sir Thomas Bond, who developed Bond Street in the 17th century. Everything changed with the arrival of the railways.
In Dickens’ time Peckham became a through route from Westminster down to Dover and Rochester.
Benedict O’Looney
In the 1860s hundreds of rows of houses were built for clerks and artisans, who now, with the railways, could commute into offices in the City.
Courtesy of Peckham - based photographer Edmund Summner
Factories like the Bussey building, one of Peckhams tallest buildings were built. It manufactured cricket bats from its own willow farm in Suffolk. But tragedy struck Peckham too.
The single greatest loss of life in the Second World War was when a strike hit the corset and parachute making factory in Peckham Rye, and Benedict has organised plaques to commemorate this.
Work on the north and south wings of Peckham Rye Station was ‘Highly Commended’ in the recent 2018 Railway Heritage Awards.
To find out about other projects by Benedict O’Looney Architects in Peckham and South London, please visit
www.benedictolooney.co.uk
In recent years Peckham has re-invented itself with sensational arts centres such as the Peckham Levels, (a remarkable conversion of a carpark), and the Bussey Building (the former Cricket bat factory).
The area buzzes and gyrates with life. What a great thing that we have historians such as Benedict O’Looney to ensure that its rich history is preserved for now, and for whatever the future may bring.
Courtesy of Peckham - based photographer Edmund Summner
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Focus on Peckham
Acorn is Nuts about Peckham!
The Acorn Group has been successfully selling and letting flats and houses throughout Peckham through our local Estate Agency in Peckham Rye since 1996. Over the last 20 years we’ve watched the area grow, through investment and regeneration, into one of the most exciting property markets in London!
For even longer, we have been selling development sites, investment freeholds and commercial properties in Peckham and the surrounding area. Here are a few examples...
A Sausage Factory – in 2010 we sold the former Kennedy’s Sausage Factory measuring c.17,300 sqft on Peckham Road to a commercial artist.
An unbroken block of flats – in 2012 we sold a block of 14 flats plus office space needing renovation in Hanover Park.
A Petrol Station – in 2015 we sold a petrol station on Peckham Road for residential development.
Waste Land – in 2015 we acquired a vacant site in Marmont Road on behalf of a client from Southwark Council. We then secured a planning permission for the client to develop 9 dwellings.
A school – in 2016 we sold this former Victorian school on Consort Road with planning permission to provide 8 dwellings.
A church – in 2018 we submitted a planning application for a client to provide a new church and community facility to provide employment space, a café and 111 flats on the Old Kent Road at the junction with Ruby Street.
Please contact us for commercial, investment, development and planning management advice. 020 7089 6555 120 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3TX www.acorncommercial.co.uk
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Southwark BUSINESS TODAY
We’re always up for a challenge, are you?
Can you nd the Acorn nut in the crowd? No nonsense development, investment and commercial property advice in Southwark and beyond‌
120 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3TX 020 7089 6555
commercial@acorn.ltd.uk acorncommercial.co.uk @acorncommercial
Focus on Peckham
Mountview moves into Peckham This September, Mountview, one of the UK’s leading drama schools, opened the doors to their new building in the heart of Peckham. Mountview is extremely well known for musical theatre and across its performance courses has launched the careers of incredible names. Famous alumni include recent Olivier Award winner and Hamilton star Giles Terera, Amanda Holden, Ken Stott, Eastenders’ Lindsey Coulson and many, many more. Mountview began life nearly 74 years ago in 1945 when founder Peter Coxhead was a private in the army. He was posted in Sri Lanka, and when he found he was unable to join the officers’ drama club, he formed his own. Mountview was born. Upon his return, Peter restarted Mountview in his home neighbourhood of Crouch End. For around the past 30 years, Mountview has lived in ‘temporary’ accommodation in Wood Green, but with rising rents, a need for facilities to match the quality of training, and in order to deliver an impressive vision a new home was needed. A 15-year quest for an appropriate home was finally solved when Mountview approached Southwark Council. Southwark, home to some of London’s finest arts organisations, proved the perfect match: they were able to identify a brown-field site in the heart of Peckham, next to the RIBA Award-winning Library, and agree a finance
package that allowed Mountview to realise their vision. Building work began in April 2017 and now inhabit their amazing new home. Carl Turner Architects have designed a building - built by UK Constructor of the Year 2018 (Construction News Awards) Gilbert-Ash - which includes a public foyer with two café/bars, 200-seat and 80-seat theatres and a rooftop restaurant/bar with views across the London skyline. Training facilities include 21 studios, music practice rooms, production workshops, meeting rooms, two TV studios and a radio suite. Further spaces include work space, a retail unit and a 195-m2 rehearsal studio for commercial hire. Sarah Preece, Executive Director of Mountview, said: “Our partnership with Southwark Council, Carl Turner Architects and Gilbert-Ash has simply been phenomenal. For Southwark to see the potential in housing us in Peckham and put arts and culture at the centre of their plans to secure the future of Peckham, is remarkable and visionary. Carl Turner Architects and Gilbert-Ash have allowed us to realise our vision to build a drama school and a business model that is accessible to everyone.” Mountview’s new building will be a game changer for the school, local area and the UK’s creative industries as a whole. It will be an invaluable resource, providing the organisation with purpose-built, world-class facilities; new sources
PECKHAM
GENERATION N*XT Dramatic training for ages 6–24
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Southwark BUSINESS TODAY
of income; and security for the future. The school will be a public building, welcoming local residents, young people and creative professionals to share Mountview’s world-class facilities. Two new theatres will be open to the public year-round, housing more than 20 Mountview productions annually plus visiting community and professional work. A community programme for young people and for adults will see Mountview’s doors open to everyone. GENERATION N*XT, a programme of performance courses including acting, dance and film making for 6-24 year old will begin in January. Adult classes follow in the spring. The building also provides new community space. Studios, theatres and meeting rooms are available for hire by corporates, non-profits, community groups and individuals. Stephen Jameson, Mountview’s Principal and Artistic Director, said: “At Mountview we are passionate about building a future for talented people from all backgrounds, and ensuring that the arts industry becomes more reflective of the society that surrounds it. Our new building and our location in the centre of Peckham will allow us to work with everyone, of all ages and backgrounds, developing their skills and interests, creating an incredible community of culture lovers and providing space for people to nurture their artistic endeavours.”
The ground floor of Mountivew plays host to Westland Coffee and to Well Street Pizza, to brand new destinations for Peckham foodies to enjoy. They will be joined by a rooftop eatery later in 2019, providing a new destination at the top of the high street, offering panoramic views of the London skyline. Mountview will bring an estimated £13.7m per year to the local area and provide new jobs in building management, catering and cleaning, expanding to a staff of 185 in admin, maintenance and teaching roles. Mountview is still fundraising for the fit-out of their main theatre. They have £1.15million to raise. If you’d like to support, please have a look at their website: mountview.org.uk Applications for Mountview’s courses – in Musical Theatre, Actor Musicianship and Acting, as well as Theatre Production Arts, Scenic Art and Prop Making, Theatre Directing, Creative Producing, Musical Direction, Site-Specific Theatre Practice and Theatre for Community and Education are OPEN NOW. Apply via their website: mountview.org.uk The Generation N*xt programme for 6-24 year olds begins on Saturday 12 January. Find out more at mountview.org.uk
10-WEEK COURSES BEGINNING 12 JANUARY ON SATURDAYS & MONDAYS INCLUDING: ACTING • BALLET • BEATS & LYRICS • COMMERCIAL FUNK • GUERILLA FILM MAKING • HIP-HOP DANCE • SONG & DANCE • STREET DANCE • WEST END SKILLS @MountviewLDN FIND OUT MORE mountview.org.uk • 020 8881 2201
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info@citybusinesscentre.co.uk
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Property Focus
“Working with local businesses and our neighbours, our aim is for Canada Water to become a place where both businesses that are already established and those that wish to move into the area can thrive alongside each other.�
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Southwark BUSINESS TODAY
Property Focus
An update from British Land on the Canada Water Masterplan Following the submission of a planning application in May 2018, we continue to progress our plans to deliver the Canada Water Masterplan, a unique new urban centre for Southwark. We would like to thank the Southwark Chamber of Commerce for formally supporting the application and look forward to continuing to work with local businesses over the coming years to make our proposals a reality. Working with local businesses
Working with local businesses and our neighbours, our aim is for Canada Water to become a place where both businesses that are already established and those that wish to move into the area can thrive alongside each other. Over the next 15 years, the project would create a new town centre for Southwark, with around 2 million sq ft of office and workspace that is home to around 20,000 jobs.
We are already investing in programmes which are designed to support the local community to access future opportunities, whilst moving forwards towards 2019, investment will include training and upskilling programmes to help get residents into work. This will be with a focus on supporting unemployed residents, part-time workers wanting full-time employment, and those on zerohours contracts, to find more sustainable employment.
Current programmes include the eight week start-up training ‘Start up and Thrive’ delivered by Tree Shepherd, which is now on its third cohort, and the Bright Lights ‘starting out in retail’ training programme, alongside work experience and other mentoring opportunities.
We have also held informal drop in sessions on both Albion Street and Lower Road for businesses in the area, with local businesses coming along to discuss the plans, as well as their aspirations for the future of the area.
We hosted a breakfast event for around 20 members of the Southwark Chamber of Commerce on the 7th November to update members on how the Canada Water Masterplan is progressing. The first phase of development alone is expected to bring around 2,400 jobs across 400,000 sq ft of workspace. Subject to planning,
construction for the first phase could be completed as early as 2023. Head of the Canada Water Masterplan, Roger Madelin, also highlighted how this will contribute to the local and wider economy both now and in the future.
New local independent opening soon at Surrey Quays
The award-winning Lower Road restaurant the Yellow House is opening their new ‘Spiedie Shack’ at Surrey Quays Shopping Centre. This new food and drink outlet based outside Surrey
Quays Shopping Centre will be serving up freshly prepared, charcoal grilled ‘spiedie’ sandwiches from its shipping container base. The Masterplan Team have been working together with Yellow House for nearly two years to bring this exciting new outlet to the centre, as part of our ongoing commitment to work with neighbouring businesses to support the local economy.
To keep up to date with the Spiedie Shack, follow @spiedieshack on Twitter or visit www.spiedieshack.co.uk to register for updates.
Finally, a huge congratulations to our tenant Bodytonic Clinic for being named Practice of the Year at the 2018 Institute of Osteopathy awards. This award celebrates the high quality and innovative care delivered by Bodytonic for people in the local community. Bodytonic Clinic is based in the historic Dock Offices in Canada Water, and provides osteopathy, sports injury rehab, holistic massage, health and beauty treatments.
To keep up to date with the Bodytonic Clinic, follow @bodytonicUK on Twitter or visit https://bodytonicclinic.co.uk for more information.
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Property Focus For us in CD Interna onal (CDI) this year’s Award for the most complex and exci ng project goes to the renova on and refurbishment of 180 The Strand. Located in the heart of London between the busy West End and the Embankment of the River Thames, the project is a redevelopment of an exis ng o ce block. Who is in The main idea of redevelopment is to adapt an outdated building to suit the current and future style of working, living and entertaining. Basement and ground levels of a former car park will be transformed to an exhibi on and conference space, above them there will be oors dedicated to co-working spaces, o ces and complimentary retail and entertainment tenants. Further above there will be serviced apartments, gym and other ameni es. David Chipper eld Architects has already moved in, taking up two oors for their London o ce, a popular cosme c brand will take around 1,500sqm for their London headquarters, and Soho House will expand their portfolio by taking up around 85,000 sq in the building to expand its empire with member’s club space and co-working space - Soho Works. Tech bits The Client’s objec ve for the building was to have the possibility to fragment the overall complex into a number of separate buildings. This necessitated the main central plant being organised to allow future buildings to operate independently. To create and addi onal oor and increase net le able, we have moved the central cooling and genera on equipment to the roof of the central building. However, to reserve the opportunity to use the roof space, the design strategy has therefore been to minimise plant on the roof and this is primarily limited the selec on to dry air coolers that reject the heat during the cooling cycle. Following the London Planning guidelines for energy genera on, combined heat and power units together with new e cient boiler plant have been established for each building in the basement. Hea ng has been provided via a low-temperature hea ng system that has been incorporated into each of the buildings to facilitate tenants to install their own water to water heat pumps.
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Southwark BUSINESS TODAY
Built in 1965, Frederick Gibberd’s Portland stone building has become a hub for creative industries: multiple design agencies, an office of the publisher for Dazed and Confused and the home for London Fashion Week shows. This iconic, brutalist building is already providing a space where innovative businesses and visionary talents can collaborate, and now undergoing a major refurbishment.
Property Focus Minimising roof ven la on plant has resulted in on oor ven la on units with fresh air being drawn from the perimeter façade and exhaust air being ducted to roof level. The electrical services have been developed whilst keeping the building opera onal. This has involved the complete refurbishment of the main electrical infrastructure and upgrading the incoming high voltage supplies to provide the necessary future capacity for the overall complex.
Interna onal
30B Wilds Rents, London SE1 4QG www.cdbse.net 0203 589 0090
The hot and cold water services have been fully refurbished with each building their own central plant. The internal drainage system has been ra onalised to meet the new uses within the overall complex. Know how CDI are currently coordina ng installa on works as a roll out programme, where several t-out contractors are working in di erent part of the building. Most businesses shall con nue to operate while the works are being carried out, therefore, the coordina on between the design and construc on teams and the tenants is paramount. CDI is working collabora vely with the architects and structural engineers to deliver a fully coordinated MEP services solu on in RevitÂŽ. Some of our engineers are based on site to survey and pro le the exis ng structure in order to facilitate coordina on. Various scenarios for hea ng, ven la on and air-condi oning were tested using thermal modelling so ware. The loca on allows us to travel to and from our o ce to the site in less than 20 minutes by bike or public transport. And if our working day got extended, well, Covent Garden has a lot of entertainment on o er. Alterna vely, we can watch a sunset from Waterloo Bridge nearby.
Images: This page clockwise from the top: James Ross, Director of CD Interna onal standing on the top of the central building on Strand; Modelling of a boiler room; modelling of services for DCA tout; thermal model of the whole building. Opposite page, clockwise fron the top: facade of the building; cooling equipment plantroom modelling; clash free modelling for MEP services distribu on; details of fancoil units for t-out.
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What is MaaS and why will it be so Important? The way we move is changing, and fast. More of us already take on-demand mobility for granted, whether we’re catching a ride via Uber or Lyft, using city bikes, or grabbing a car only when we need it via the Zipcar app. Mobility as a Service, or MaaS, is the logical next step to this shift from personal modes of transport to on-demand services. According to the MaaS Alliance, integrating mobility services into a single, user-friendly app will help to create a more sustainable transport model for the future. The Future is Now
There has already been a significant shift towards ride and car sharing. From TV to transport, we have become accustomed to getting what we want at the touch of a button.
It’s part of a gear change to on-demand services, together with the acceleration of the “sharing economy”. While companies including Zipcar are often categorized as “disrupters” of traditional business models, they could become the norm. Businesses are benefiting from the MaaS model, as we become more switched on to the benefits of not owning a car, for example, the MaaS model of digitally enabled vehicle sharing makes a lot of sense. Services like Zipcar for Business enable businesses of all sizes to save money, time and resources spent on transport through car sharing. Over 13,000 businesses trust Zipcar, with their on-demand access to thousands of cars and vans 24/7, an all-inclusive service
(insurance, congestion charges and petrol included as standard) and dedicated business support, Zipcar can offer a flexible mobility solution for any sized business.
In big cities like London, vehicles are often used for short, occasional journeys, spending most of their lives sitting outside their owners’ homes. Paying only for the journeys you actually take could significantly lower costs—and stress levels.
All of this is driving the market further in the direction of MaaS. A report by Accenture predicts that, by 2030, revenues from mobility services could reach around £1 trillion. A UK government discussion on the topic concluded that: “An ideal implementation of MaaS would be no more expensive than the current transport system, fully inclusive for all travellers, meet obligations on air pollution and carbon emissions, and reduce vehicle ownership.”
Bringing it all Together
The government report also suggested that: “A fully integrated ticketing system across all modes of travel will be essential to enabling MaaS in the transport system of the future, though who would be responsible for this system was open to debate.”
Whether it ultimately comes down to private or public companies—or a combination of the two working together— the underlying methodology of MaaS is to make mobility easier, safer, cheaper and more convenient for the user. It would mean public transport, bikes, car hire and ride-sharing services being available in one menu, in the palm of your hand.
In the UK and globally, more and more companies are following this business model. Transit App, for example, is a self-described “helpful personal robot” that brings together commuter transport options in around 175 cities worldwide.
The MaaS Alliance summarises the overarching aim of these services as being able “to provide an alternative to the use of the private car that may be as convenient, more sustainable, help to reduce congestion and constraints in transport capacity, and can be even cheaper”.
“Over 13,000 businesses trust Zipcar, with their on-demand access to thousands of cars and vans 24/7, an all-inclusive service (insurance, congestion charges and petrol included as standard) and dedicated business support, Zipcar can offer a flexible mobility solution for any sized business.”
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Remembering When ...
Remembering when World War I ended on 11th November 1918 The Great War, as it was originally called, that we now know as World War 1, was remembered across Britain and Europe to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the War. The London Borough of Southwark also held Remembrance ceremonies. In 1914 the first Metropolitan Boroughs of Southwark Bermondsey and Camberwell, had only been 14 years in existence when the Great War broke out.
The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of AustriaHungary in Sarajevo on 28th June 1914 was the trigger that started the war.
As in other parts of the British Isles, many thousands of men joined up in the three boroughs, to fight for King and Country on Land and Sea. Men from the British colonies also came to support Britain and France against the Central European Powers and Russia joined b in on the side of the allies. Spain stayed neutral and the USA only joined the allies in 1917.
When the war started It was believed that it would not last beyond Christmas. Four years later 20 million lives had been lost and it was said that it was this War that would end all Wars. Most of those who volunteered from the three Metropolitan Boroughs in S.E. London were sent to France and Belgium along what was called the Western front along with a million horses. Women took over the work in the munitions and other factories. The battles were fought in trenches and on the high seas and led to a great loss of life on both sides of the conflict. Five men from Southwark were awarded the Victoria Cross for
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By Ken Hayes. Honorary Secretary
their acts of courage and bravery in battle, namely, Fred Holmes 2/09/1914, Harold Mugford 11/04/1917, George Jarrett 03/05/1917, and Albert McKenzie 22-23/04/1918. They now have commemorative paving stones laid in their honour where they lived in Southwark.
The war ended when an Armistice was signed on the morning of 11th November 1918 at 5.00am and hostilities were ordered to cease at 11.00am that day. ‘The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month’, that we now call Remembrance Day. The Peace Treaty was signed in a Railway Wagon near the front lines of the Western Front.
It is often forgotten that railways played a big part in WWI, transporting troops to the front lines and bringing those injured back to field hospitals. It is not surprising that 5,6035 railway workers from the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Co volunteered to fight in WWI, and around a thousand of those were killed. There is a memorial to them in London Bridge Station situated in new entrance from St Thomas Street to the newly rebuilt station. In all 20 million lives were lost on both sides in the war many from Commonwealth countries as well as the U.K.
In 1918 a world-wide epidemic of influenza broke out in France and was carried by returning soldiers from WWI to their home countries In 1918 and carried on in 1919, which led to between 50 to 100 million deaths after the war.
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Up to half a million of soldiers who were killed were never identified and buried in unmarked graves. In 1920 the bodies of four unknown allied soldiers, from the Ypres, Arras, Asine and Somme battle fields, were brought to Army H.Q at St-Pol-sur-Ter-Noise. One was randomly selected and brought back to London and buried in Westminster Abbey by the Font in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The origin of the annual poppy appeal has a strong Southwark connection. Colonel John McCrea, a Canadian Army Surgeon, wrote the Poem “In Flanders Fields”. He linked the blood red wild poppies growing in the carnage of the battle field as a symbolic memorial to the fallen in the horrors of the war.
An American Teacher, Moina Michael, was so moved by the poem that she started wearing a red fabric Poppy. After the war she and her friends started making and selling silk poppies to raise funds for returning American war veterans. It was adopted by the National American Legion in September 1920.
Remembrance Services were held in Southwark during the weekend of 9th to 12th November. A Peace Concert was held at St George the Martyr Church Borough on Friday 9th, with the choirs of five Southwark Primary Schools performing WW1 songs that were sung by the soldiers in WWI to help keep their spirits up. The main Council Service of Remembrance was held at the Borough War Memorial, led by the Dean of Southwark Cathedral. Other Services were held at West Lane War Memorial, Bermondsey, Dulwich War Memorial and at the Soviet War Memorial in the grounds of the Imperial War Museum. The final Service was held at the Council Offices on Monday 12th remembering the first Metropolitan Borough of Southwark’s members and staff who died in WW1.
“At the going down of the Sun and in the morning, we will remember them” and Southwark certainly did.
In 1921 the newly formed Royal British Legion adopted the Red Poppy as its Remembrance symbol. They set up a factory to make them at a disused Shirt factory in the Old Kent Road and employing ex-service men to make them. The first Poppy Appeal was held on Saturday 10th November 1921.
In 2007 the Head Quarters of the Royal British Legion moved to their present location at 199 Borough High Street.
WWI 100 Childrens Peace Concert
Women in Business
Successful Business Women in Southwark This issue we talk to a businesswoman who makes a difference in their field.
New course will strengthen university college’s offer
Sophie comes to the role having spent several years as a research scientist, developing cancer therapeutics, before moving on to work in nutrition after experiencing first-hand the powerful benefits of nutrition on health and wellbeing.
Sophie Tully Course Developer The University College of Osteopathy (UCO)
The University College of Osteopathy (UCO) has come a long way in its first 100 years and one of the people helping prepare it for the next stage in its development is nutrition scientist Sophie Tully. A biomedical science graduate with an MSc in Clinical Nutrition, Sophie has been recruited as a Course Developer by UCO to develop a new degree in nutrition and dietetics, which she aims to have ready in the next academic year.
That interest led her in September to UCO on Borough High Street. Formerly the British School of Osteopathy, UCO has played a significant role in championing osteopathy and furthering the profession in the UK and internationally.
Osteopathy is a therapy that enables patients to respond and adapt to changing circumstances and to live well. Osteopaths work to ensure the best possible care for their patients through a range of approaches, including physical manipulation of the musculoskeletal system, education and advice on exercise, diet and lifestyle. The new course is seen as important development for UCO and Sophie was keen to embrace the challenge.
She said: “I had spent several years at the beginning of my career working in the laboratory but I am a people person and had been increasingly aware that pharmacology alone does not work for every condition.”
“I became more and more aware that improving our nutrition and the way we live can be beneficial to health.”
Supporting the UCO belief in a need for the course is changes in the way that dietetics training is being funded.
Sophie said: “The changes present an opportunity for education providers like UCO to meet the increasing demand for high quality nutrition professionals, with rigorous scientific knowledge.”
“There is increasing public awareness of the importance of diet and nutrition and we saw that there was an opportunity to develop a degree course.”
“The duration of the course will be three years and aims to produce students who are able to adapt to the changes in the field.”
The course fits in with the overall ethos of UCO, which is the largest osteopathic educational institution in the UK offering courses that are informed by clinical evidence and supported by high-quality teaching.
The opportunities that UCO offers attracts students from around the world and produces graduates who go on to leading roles within the profession. There is a big emphasis on hands-on training and UCO’s clinic, based on Southwark Bridge Road, which delivers nearly 40,000 appointments per year, and, in the spirit of the belief that osteopathic healthcare should be accessible to all, much of it is delivered free of charge.
Among UCO’s achievements in recent years was the obtaining of Taught Degree Awarding Powers, which means that it is the only osteopathic institution in Europe granted the power to award its own degrees and able to use the University College title. Sophie said: “This is an exciting time for UCO as we are developing a cutting-edge course which aims to give students a detailed understanding of nutrition science and the clinical skills to make a real difference."
“There is increasing public awareness of the importance of diet and nutrition and we saw that there was an opportunity to develop a degree course.”
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Health & Wellbeing
Figures emphasis workplace health concerns Too many workers in Britain’s workplaces are still being injured or made ill by their work, according to a new report.
Annual statistics from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show that 1.4 million workers were suffering from work-related ill health and about 555,000 from the result of being injured in 2017/18. The annual statistics, compiled by HSE from the Labour Force Survey and other sources, cover workrelated ill health, workplace injuries, working days lost, costs to Britain and enforcement action taken. Martin Temple, HSE Chair, said: “These figures should serve as a reminder to us of the importance to manage risk and undertake good health and safety practice in the work place. “Great Britain’s health and safety record is something we should all be proud of, but there is still much to be done to ensure that every worker goes home at the end of their working day safe and healthy. Collectively, we must take
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responsibility to prevent these incidents that still affect too many lives every year.” The findings come as some of the UK’s major companies are urging the Government to do more to support good mental health in the workplace and remove the stigma attached the condition. Their intervention came as a study revealed that almost half of Britons who have taken time off work due to mental health issues lied to their employer about their reason for absence, instead blaming a cold, the flu or family emergencies. The survey showed that, even though more than half of Britons have taken time off work for their mental wellbeing, UK workers still aren’t comfortable with being open with their employers about these issues. Forty six per cent of those questioned confessed to hiding their mental ill-health from their workplace, blaming embarrassment, shame and fear of looking weak. The team at income protection provider Holloway Friendly conducted the research in a bid to find out more about Britons’ attitudes towards mental health.
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A total of 2,108 adults, aged 18 and over from the UK, were questioned as part of the study. All respondents revealed that they had a full-time job, in which they’d worked for at least two years, prior to the poll. Initially participants were asked, “Have you ever had to take time off work due to mental ill-health?” to which more than half (51%) revealed that they had at some point in their career. When these respondents were asked whether they were honest with their employer about the nature of their absence, 54% said they were, but 46% revealed that they lied. Respondents were asked what they blamed their absence on when in reality their mental health was suffering, with the following five answers emerging as the most common responses: 1. A cold – 29% 2. Flu – 22% 3. Family emergency – 16% 4. Stomach problems – 13% 5. Sore throat – 9% When participants were questioned as to why they felt the need to lie to their employer, being embarrassed (29%), feeling ashamed (27%), fear of looking weak (19%) and fear of not being taken seriously (17%) topped the list.
Eighty nine per cent of respondents taking part in the poll said that they did not think enough was done by their workplace to support employees struggling with mental health issues.
Finally, all participants were asked ‘If you had to take time off work due to a mental health issue tomorrow, would you be open and honest with your boss?’. Just 32% said they would, with the remaining 68% admitting that they would lie.
Louise Baker, Head of HR at Holloway Friendly, said: "It’s absolutely heartbreaking to see that so many working Britons do not feel like they can be honest with their employer when it comes to mental health issues.
“Mental health is such an important topic and those who are suffering should feel comfortable speaking to their boss about their reason for absence without fear, embarrassment or shame. More needs to be done by employers up and down the country to ensure their employees are never too scared to approach them if they are struggling.”
Health & Wellbeing
Why wellbeing at work is so important? Research has shown that looking after the wellbeing of the workforce can have significant benefits for both the employee and employer, reducing absenteeism, improving productivity and creating an environment where staff feel valued, committed and supported. According to the Office for National Statistics, an estimated 137 million working days were lost to sickness or injury in the UK in 2016.
Musculoskeletal pain is one of the main contenders and packs a real punch – it is calculated that 22.4% of the total working days lost are due to pain in the back, neck and upper limbs. It can keep people away from work for days at a time (acute episode) and some people develop a more persistent pattern of pain (chronic). For those who choose and are able to continue on with work while being in pain, it is a serious distraction and limits productivity. Imagine the scenario of being in an important sales meeting and being struck by sudden, acute pain that leaves you unable to continue.
So how can you help to offset the problem, decrease absenteeism, increase productivity as well as motivate your employees by looking after them?
Osteopathy is one solution that helps with a wide range of debilitating conditions such as back pain that can keep people away from work, however willing they may be. Patients are commonly treated with a variety of techniques including soft tissue and manipulation of joints, along with education so that patients can better understand their situation. The aim is to analyse and provide treatment options for the problem, rather than just offering transient relief.
Southwark is fortunate enough to house Europe’s largest osteopathic clinic at the University College of Osteopathy (UCO). The UCO Clinic offers low-cost, student-led consultations overseen by qualified, experienced osteopaths and has provided care within the borough of Southwark since 1997. By forging closer links with the surrounding community, the UCO seeks to provide better healthcare for those who live and work within the area as well as vital clinical experience for its senior students.
In support of this aim, the UCO Clinic runs a Community Partnership Scheme for local businesses and organisations, offering the employees of partner organisations discounted rates for consultations and treatments.
The scheme itself is free for the organisation to join and enables employers to demonstrate a visible commitment to supporting the wellbeing of their staff, while employees can access osteopathic treatment for approximately half the price of a private appointment.
Over 130 organisations have signed up to the scheme to date including Historic Royal Palaces; London Cycling Campaign;
Network Rail; the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union (BECTU); as well as several local businesses, community organisations and education providers.
One BECTU member said of her recent treatment: “[They] got to the root of my issue immediately… I was lucky to be able to have a full assessment and diagnosis and a 20-minute treatment on my first session. As a self-employed performer finding a service which is both of the highest standard and affordable is amazing and I’ll be a regular from now on."
If your organisation would be interested in joining the UCO’s Community Partnership Scheme and adding discounted osteopathic treatment to your staff benefits, please contact marketing@uco.ac.uk for more information.
To find out more about the UCO Clinic and the services it provides visit www.clinic.uco.ac.uk, or to book an appointment call 020 7089 5360 or email clinicappointments@uco.ac.uk
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Voice from Westminster
Time to ask the people again on Brexit Neil Coyle MP As I write this Theresa May has collided with reality. In November she put her draft Brexit Withdrawl Agreement to Parliament.
This is immensely frustrating. It took legal action to get a ‘meaningful vote’ for MPs on the Government’s Brexit plans and even then it was on the withdrawal process and did not cover the final trade arrangements or when they might be in place, so it was not as ‘meaningful’ as MPs had expected. Her proposals would have created a limbo period of further uncertainty and deserved to be thrown out of parliament.
The Prime Minister is hostage to the most extreme Brexit elements in her Party and should face them down. They did not have the 48 letters from MPs to end her tenure and they do not represent a majority in the Commons or country. But she portrayed the scenario as her plans or No Deal. We now know this preposterous threat was empty as the European Court of Justice has ruled that the UK has the right to revoke Article 50 at any point – including the day before leaving the EU if no deal is reached. The Government must stop trying to threaten Parliament and the country. The Prime Minister claims she is now seeking an addendum to her plans, almost entirely regarding the ‘backstop’.
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Frankly, I am sick of this Brexit deceit. We know the 2016 referendum was steeped in lies on buses, Russian influence, illegal overspending and ongoing criminal investigations. But the deceit continues in ignoring the jobs being lost, investment being delayed or spent elsewhere and the companies already shifting offices and more to other EU member states. The deceit that the UK can survive on WTO rules is wholly irresponsible and the Government’s own analysis shows the potential damage to our economy of all options May claims to have examined.
Voters deserve to be told the hard truth:
1. there is no pot of gold at the end of the Brexit rainbow;
2. the unicorns promised by Leave advocates cannot be delivered;
3. Father Brexmas is not real and cannot grant May’s wish list; and
4. the best deal for the UK is full membership of a reformed EU.
Through revoking Article 50 and delivering a new People’s Vote with the utmost involvement of individuals, businesses and organisations across Southwark and the whole country, we can. A whopping thirteen million people did not vote at all in 2016 and the 16 year olds denied a vote then are already 18. All published polling shows
Southwark BUSINESS TODAY
a shift towards Remain in all parts of the UK, including here in Southwark from the 73% in the referendum to a massive 80% now.
I hope I’ve played my part in that shift and that I have represented the overwhelming views of the individual constituents and businesses I have met when I have opposed Brexit in Parliament, including breaking the Labour whip to vote against triggering
Article 50 which we can all now see was vastly premature by the Government. I will continue to put Southwark first in all my parliamentary and constituency work. If you have any questions, would like more information, if you’d like to meet or need my help with any issues please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Happy Christmas and all the best for 2019!
Neil.Coyle.MP@Parliament.UK
020 7219 8733
“The deceit that the UK can survive on WTO rules is wholly irresponsible and the Government’s own analysis shows the potential damage to our economy of all options May claims to have examined.”
The Last Word
Upcoming Events
The Last Word
Join our informative and engaging range of events. A perfect opportunity to make new business contacts. We’ve designed our events to help you broaden your network, learn something new or get involved with key topical issues for businesses in Southwark. DATE
Our networking events are great for regular members to make and maintain useful contacts, and we always welcome first-timers. EVENT
Thursday 10 January 2019 6-8pm
New Year’s Drinks
Thursday 24 January 2019 Evening
Launch of Southwark Business Awards 2019
Thursday 7 February 2019 6-8pm
VENUE
The Parliament Bar, The George Inn, 77 Borough High Street, SE1 1NH Shangri La Hotel, The Shard 31 St Thomas Street, SE1 9QU
Promoting your business effectively
Tuesday 19 February 2019 6-8pm
Newington Head Office 96 Great Suffolk Street, SE1 0BE
An Evening with Sir Simon Hughes
Tbc
Wednesday 6 March 2019 6-8pm
Property Update
Tbc
Thursday 14 March 2019 6-8pm
Tourism
The London Bridge Experience 2 - 4 Tooley Street, SE1 2SY
Mindfulness
Tbc
Tuesday 19 March 2019 8.30-10am Tuesday 9 April 2019 6-8pm
Thursday 25 April 2019 6-8pm
Europe – Business as usual?
Tbc
Annual General Meeting
The George Inn, 77 Borough High Street, SE1 1NH
Other planned events for 2019 Pensions Update
Cross border networking with South East London Chamber of Commerce 2019 Southwark Business Awards Ceremony Annual River Boat Party
Tour of the House of Lords followed by drinks on the Terrace
Nick Maxwell
Managing Director
Stellarise Limited
I’m a child of the eighties and was lucky enough to have my Dad come home with a computer one day when I was 11. I set it up and was hooked. Programming fascinated me and so after school I went to the University of Manchester to study Computing and Information Systems. After graduation I joined a small consultancy, Quidnunc, building IT systems to transform big blue chip companies. I worked my way to a senior leadership position and by the millenium we’d grown to 300 people with offices in London, Brighton, New York, San Francisco and Bangalore. Unfortunately, timing on our plans to float were too late; the dot-com bubble burst and we came tumbling down with it. I learnt an incredible amount and after time realised I was hungry to start something of my own. Stellarise helps bring business transformation through cloud technology to our global client base of SMEs.
Q1 What was your first job and what was the pay packet?
The first job with a payslip was working in a psychiatric hospital in South London, washing up the dishes. I can’t remember what I earned; I was saving to go travelling.
Q2 If you were prime minister, what would be your first decision? Greenlight the People’s Vote.
Q3 What is the biggest challenge in your business? Juggling everything; customers; marketing; sales; team; processes; systems.
Q4 If you could do another job, what would it be? For the zen-like satisfaction it gives me, a lumberjack; I’m quite handy with a chainsaw and axe. Or for those moments when I want to perform to a crowd, the fourth member of DJ’s/Music producers Above & Beyond.
Q5 What's your favourite London building?
The Shard. I watched in fascination as it was built and it still makes me proud to be part of London when I look at it.
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Join Us
Join Us
The Chamber is made up of active and successful business people from a wide range of sectors, who are based in Southwark, believe in Southwark and wish Southwark to prosper.
Making the most of your SCC membership Our Committee Chairman Peter Mantell
Once you’ve joined us you have access to the opportunities we provide to help support you and your business. Whether you simply want to attend our networking events, run a seminar or sponsor or run an event, we’d love you to get involved. We like our members to make the most of their membership and get as involved as much as they can.
President Neil Coyle MP
(MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Vice President Lord Roy Kennedy (House of Lords)
Vice President Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP
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• Large companies - 51 employees plus
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• Small/Medium sized companies 2 to 50 employees £150 per annum • Corporate/PLC’s by agreement.
• All new members pay a one off administration fee of £25
(MP for Camberwell and Peckham)
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Patron The Worshipful Mayor of Southwark (Former MP)
Council and Community Representatives Councillor Kieron Williams
(Cabinet Member for Jobs, Skills & Innovation)
Executive Members
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Les Johnson
Vice Chair
Yoko De Souza
Vice Chair Honorary Secretary Honorary Treasurer Executive Member Executive Member Executive Member Executive Member Executive Member Executive Member Executive Member Executive Member Administrator
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